Faction Design
Doppelgänger - Faction Design Backstory Two rival nations meet in the alpine palace of Hofburg to discuss the end of a short but brutal war. The victors: Haus von Süderreich, heading a powerful empire of kingdoms and republics. The defeated; the Pontifical States, holy representatives of the Gods and unrighteous conquerors. Tensions remain high as a peace treaty is slowly devised; discussion between bickering cliques with their own interests, clashes between powerful and charismatic rulers. Gossip and blackmail run rampant, watched by guards in gilded plate. Perfect for a saboteur… Doppelgänger takes place in a late 1700s analogue; rich baroque architecture, alpine mountains, swords and guns in equal standing, and plenty of noble intrigue. A peace conference is the perfect place to reignite war and leave it vulnerable to the watching eyes of Autanne, and a little magic is sure to help with making everything a sore mess. Faction Design There are two factions; the Pontifical States and Süderreich. Both nations have sent representatives from different cliques, each brings members from their ruling, major clique and two influential, minor ones. Cliques broadly support their own side but have intrigue to exploit between themselves and with other groups. The more powerful cliques are more difficult to infiltrate but wield greater power to exploit. Pontifical States Sovereign realm of the Pontiff and religious servants of the Gods. They declared war for supposedly holy reasons though this shields plainly greedy desires, to which a few now rebel against. The Pontiff himself Pius VI is present along with Legate Rauber, a skilled diplomat. They are accompanied by the Pontifical Guard, who are managing much of the security; and the Marquis Lords, secular vassals who’ve suffered greatly in the war and are fearful of what they will lose in this peace treaty. Haus von Süderreich Head of a vast conglomeration of minor states, steeped in prestige… and military might. They seek to restore an ancient hegemony lost for centuries though they bicker greatly amongst themselves for who deserves to own what. Kaiserin Henrietta, ambitious and well-taken to courtly affairs is accompanied by her husband, Francis I, and affable if dim partner. Joined by representatives from the Elector Counts, providing massive military backing; and the Merchant Republics, whom dominate local trade in the region. (Autanne) While there are a few official observers, the Royaume de Autanne consciously lays low and instead aspires to quietly sabotage the negotiations and force the war to continue, leaving their rivals weak to invasion. Intrigue Progression is deeply tied to factions and cliques, over the course of a game you infiltrate progressively more influential groups who can grant more ability to explore and manipulate the evening. Here is one example of a line of midgame intrigue, building on previous actions and opening up the path to endgame intrigue: The doppelgänger wishes to reach a draft of the treaty in the Pontifical controlled side of the palace. They examine and talk to Pontifical Guard to see how they patrol and act, what their etiquette is towards other cliques. Through stealth or a previous line of intrigue they impose a guard and go to the armoury where they’ve learned other guards are resting. Here they learn through dialogue that the Leutnant, who should be celibate, is having a tryst with a maid. They impose a servant and trick the Leutnant into believing in a fake meeting and can then replace them. Now they can use the position of Leutnant to redirect guards away with orders and clear the way for them to inspect the treaty. This area also featuring information and the ability to start influencing a higher clique. This is only one example of how to handle a situation and there would be other ways to access the room, distract the guards, or other ways to use the information on the Leutnant such as blackmail. Relations between cliques will also affect intrigue possibilities. Rival cliques will lead to more violent intrigue such as being able to agitate feuds, whereas allied cliques may need to be unsettled through exposing secrets. Know the appropriate information to expose and how to do it in a way that doesn’t endanger the doppelgänger all requires learning about and interacting with the factions. It should be difficult to create a flowchart of events and the game is designed such that more than one run is encouraged. You can’t exhaust all options in one run and instead can come back to see how what other possibilities are available for new intrigue or to try previous lines of intrigue in new ways. By Hugh Brown, 1702324